


Wrong Universe

by Cassodembreankia



Category: Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Character from Our World Fell Into a Fictional One, F/M, Slow Burn, This kind of story is my JAM, batfam, might delete later, this is kind of an experiment fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-01-21 01:33:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21291437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassodembreankia/pseuds/Cassodembreankia
Summary: Nothing is ever as simple as we want it to be. Usually, that doesn't involve ending up in the wrong dimension. Some of us just have worse luck than others, I guess. Because my errand to a games and comics store with my best friend somehow went awry and I ended up... more than halfway across the country? In Blüdhaven? With no idea how or why, and no way to get home.Luckily, an extremely friendly and extremely *familiar* police officer happened to notice me freaking out offered to give me a hand. An offer that would ultimately blossom into a friendship.And, ultimately, maybe something... more?But... I still have to get home, back to my life...
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

“Look, all I'm saying is you _really_ need to read Super Sons. It’s _hilarious_. Damian is such a grouch and Jon is such a ray of sunshine who can be pretty sassy,” I said.

“I know. But I haven’t even finished Red Hood and the Outlaws from _The New Fifty-Two_ yet! I am _way_ behind!” my best friend, Monty (or, sorry, _Amelia Montgomery_), said. “But once I finish Red Hood and the Outlaws you promised that you’d watch Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood with me.”

“I know. And I'm going to. Even if it drives me nuts. But I'm just saying that if you start getting really into the comics, I have a plethora of recommendations. And Super Sons is near the top of the list.”

“What about the Nightwing: Rebirth series or whatever? Didn’t you say you were crushing on him?”

I laughed. “Yeah I did. Nightwing is an awesome character. But recently with the whole _Ric Grayson_ and _shot in the head_ ordeal I’ve stopped reading it because they decided, for some stupid reason, to personality-swap Dick Grayson and Jason Todd and I’m both confused and angry about it. Like trying to make Nightwing more like Red Hood and Red Hood more like Nightwing makes no sense. If I wanted to read Red Hood, I’d read Red Hood. But I read the Nightwing series for _Nightwing_. For Dick Grayson. Who’s literally been called the _soul_ of the DC universe. Who no longer even remotely resembles himself. And I'm mad at the writers. So no I'm not reading it right now.” I was exaggerating a little tiny bit but Monty wouldn’t even notice. She was too busy staring at me like I’d gone crazy.

“I think you’re too emotionally invested,” she remarked.

“Oh really? What gave that away?” I retorted.

We laughed and ducked into the games and comics shop, getting out of the rain.

“What did we come in here for, again?” I asked with a laugh.

“New DnD dice set for you,” Monty said. “And I'm browsing comics. Don’t take forever though. We need to meet the group for dinner and a DnD session at your place.”

“How come you’re talking like the responsible one all the sudden?” I joked. “That’s _my_ job.”

Monty laughed and pushed me toward the dice on the far wall while she went to the comics that took over the entire back wall.

I looked through the sets. Most of them were matching and hanging in little clear boxes from racks, but there were large plastic containers, each labelled with how many sides the dice had, full of random colors and numberings that could be mix-and-matched and stored in little velvet bags.

“Ooh. Pretty,” I muttered, pulling a D20 out of one of the containers. It was black-and-blue marbled with silver numbering. The way the marbling caught the light made it look like it was glowing. I rolled it a couple times on the carpet. Just to make sure it wasn’t loaded.

When I snatched the D20 and stood up to grab a velvet bag to start a mix-and-match set, I was hit with a dizzy spell. I swayed on my feet and closed my eyes, reaching out for the counter next to the dice for support.

“Y’okay?” Monty called from the comics wall.

“Yeah I'm fine,” I said. “Just stood up too fast.”

“WhoaheywaitTALLI!” she shouted, her voice fading.

The dizziness subsided. I opened my eyes.

I was _not_ in the games and comics shop I was used to.

Heck, I wasn’t even in _a_ games and comics shop. I didn’t know _where_ I was. Some half-lit establishment I didn’t want to be in.

The pretty D20 was still in my hand. My purse was on my shoulder, I still had on my rain-dampened jacket, and my phone was poking out of the pocket. But apart from me, everything was different.

The noises from outside were louder. Not my pretty-quiet suburb. It sounded like big-city traffic.

I ran outside, fist clenching around the D20. No one in whatever establishment I was in stopped me.

I spilled out of the door onto a metropolitan sidewalk. I could tell it was metropolitan because the buildings were _super_ tall. Taller than any I’d ever lived around.

Feet skittering to a stop, I looked at the cars parked on the street. The license plates said New Jersey.

_Jersey?! What happened to Colorado?!_ I thought frantically.

I ran down the street to the nearest corner, looking around wildly. Were there even any big cities in New Jersey? Newark maybe? Was that this metropolitan?

“Whaaat the heck…?” I whispered, taking in everything.

There was advertising _everywhere_. To the point where I almost felt like I was in Times Square or something.

“Excuse me? Miss? Are you alright?” a voice asked.

I whirled.

A man stood there in a police uniform. He was too far away for me to read the city on his crest, but the letters looked too long to be Newark. He was taller than me by quite a bit with black hair and tan skin. I couldn’t see his eye color from my distance and, to be frank, I wasn’t really looking for it.

For some reason he seemed familiar. Like I’d seen him before somewhere.

I glanced behind me. “Are you talking to me?” I asked.

“Yes, miss. You seem scared and stressed. Are you alright?”

“I, uh… I don’t know. One minute I was in Colorado. Next I was here. I have no idea how I got here. I don’t even know where _here_ is. Except the license plates say New Jersey.”

The police officer’s tense posture loosened up a little. “Welcome to Blüdhaven, miss,” he said.

I blinked. “_Blüdhaven_?!” I demanded.

“Yeah,” he replied.

_BLÜDHAVEN DOESN’T EXIST!_ I thought, staring at the officer. That wasn’t what left my mouth though.

“As in… _Nightwing_?”

“He shows up from time to time, yes,” the police officer said, taking careful steps closer to me. “My name is Officer Grayson. How about I take you back to the precinct and we’ll see if anyone’s reported you missing in Colorado.”

I went rigid. “Grayson? _Richard_ Grayson?”

It was his turn to freeze. “Well… Yes. How did you…?”

“Eldest ward of Bruce Wayne.”

“Right,” he said.

I took a step back. “This is impossible. This is _not_ happening,” I said. “It can’t be. I’ve passed out in the game store and I'm dreaming this. That’s all. Any second now I'm going to wake up on the floor of the game shop with Monty pouring my water bottle on my face.” I looked down at the D20 still clutched in my fist.

“Miss… calm down,” Officer Richard Grayson said soothingly, taking a few measured steps closer to me. I could see _Blüdhaven City Police Department_ on the crest of his jacket as he approached. And his eyes were piercingly blue.

“No, no, _no!_” I protested, backing away from him. “This isn’t _real!_ Blüdhaven is a _fictional_ city and Dick Grayson is a _fictional_ character!”

In seconds my hands were cuffed in front of me and I was getting pulled into a police cruiser. The die was still in my fist and my purse was still on my shoulder. “That’s a conversation best served in private, miss,” he said. He unlocked the cuffs and started the cruiser. “We’ll have it on the way to the precinct.”

“Do you have a body cam or a mic on you?” I asked.

“My radio isn’t transmitting and no body cam,” Officer Grayson said, beginning the drive off.

“Mr. Grayson, I know you’re Nightwing,” I said.

He slammed on the brakes—just as well since the light at the intersection was yellow and turned red—and whirled to look at me. “How do you know that?”

“Because, like I _said,_ Blüdhaven is a fictional city and Dick Grayson is a fictional character. Dick Grayson was the first Robin, who later became Nightwing, and for a while was also Batman. I’ve _read_ the Nightwing comics. Some of them, anyway. There’re _way_ too many to _really_ get caught up on right now with my life. I’ve read a lot of the Bat-family comics. Super Sons and some Teen Titans with Damian and Red Hood and the Outlaws with Jason. You have every reason not to believe me, but how else would I know any of that?”

The light turned green. Officer Grayson started to drive again, this time in tense silence.

“Don’t worry. I'm not going to say anything to anyone,” I said. “People would think I was crazy. I could name half the Justice League’s secret identities off the top of my head and probably pieces of their backstories—some of them in more detail than others—but I'm not going to. I get the feeling that in this world that would be a _dangerous_ idea.”

“Yes it would,” Officer Grayson said.

“So… what should I call you?” I asked. “Officer Grayson? Nightwing? Richard? Rick? Please don’t make me call you Rick.”

He smirked at me in the rearview mirror. “Not Rick. Please. Dick is fine. Except in the precinct. Officer Grayson there.”

“Yes sir,” I said with a sarcastic salute. He chuckled. “Do you… believe me?”

“I don’t see how I couldn’t. Not many people know my civilian identity and my masked identity are one in the same person in this universe. If you know everything you say you do, you’re probably exactly who you say you are.” He paused. “Comic books, huh?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Hm. Cool.”

There was another long pause. I wasn’t familiar with the geography of Blüdhaven since it didn’t exist, but the longer we drove I assumed the closer we got to the precinct.

“The knowledge you have makes you dangerous, y’know,” he remarked.

“I know,” I said.

“Which means you’re a security risk. Which means I should _probably_ take you to Batman tomorrow to see if he can figure out a way to send you home.”

“Right. Not tonight?”

“No. He’ll already be patrolling Gotham by the time I get off work and drive into Gotham. Tomorrow’s the better bet,” Dick said.

“Okay. And what am I supposed to do until then?”

He bit his lower lip. _Sheesh_, I thought. That was so attractive it really wasn’t fair. Fictional characters had really destroyed my standards. No wonder I never got a boyfriend in my universe.

“You can stay the night with me at my apartment. Or in my subway HQ where I keep my Nightwing stuff. Whichever would make you more comfortable.”

I shuffled in my seat. “And which would make _you_ more comfortable?”

Dick Grayson thought for a moment. “Probably my apartment. That way I can keep an eye on you. No offense. I believe you but—”

“—but you don’t trust me,” I finished. “I completely understand. And you have every right not to. Like you said: the stuff I know makes me dangerous. It’s a smart move to keep an eye on me.” I shrugged. “It’s fine. I'm not offended.”

We reached the police precinct. Dick Grayson got my door for me while I dug through my purse for my phone. I glanced at it. 87% battery. Nightwing’s bird emblem as my wallpaper. The same date and day of the week as this morning. The time was maybe fifteen minutes after I was in the shop with Monty. I even had service—four bars. Same carrier.

Dick escorted me inside and sat down at his desk. I sat in the chair opposite his desk awkwardly. “Okay. Full name?”

“Tallianna Houston,” I said. “I go by Talli.” After a moment, I spelled out my full first name.

“No middle name?”

“Nope,” I said. “So when I get married my maiden name will be my middle name.”

“Interesting. Bizarre, but interesting.”

I shrugged. “Yeah I know. It was my parents’ idea.”

“No reports from Colorado about a missing Tallianna Houston. When were you last in Colorado?”

I glanced at my watch. “Maybe twenty minutes ago?”

“What was the date?”

“Today. Same day of the week.”

“Yeah you’ve definitely hopped dimensions or something.”

“Yup,” I said.

Dick sighed. “Well… let’s have you hang out here till the end of my shift. Then I’ll take you back to my place and get you settled in for the night. Tomorrow we’ll head into Gotham and see what Bruce can do.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“You good to hang out? I get off right before dinnertime.”

I shrugged. “I’ll be fine.” I got comfortable in the chair and started to try to text Monty, or Rachel, or Lynne, or Mom, or _someone_ from my dimension.

Every attempt failed, even though I had four bars of service. _Message Could Not Send_.

With a frustrated grunt, I shoved my phone back in my purse and scowled at the edge of Dick Grayson’s desk.

“You okay?” he asked, barely glancing at me from his computer monitor.

“Fine,” I muttered. “Doesn’t surprise me that I can’t text my friends or family across dimensional barriers but I thought it’d be worth the try.”

“Hm. I'm sorry,” Dick apologized.

“It’s fine,” I said bitterly.

“So… any preferences for dinner? I was thinking pizza.”

“Pizza sounds just fine.”

“Cool. Pizza it is.” He gave me a longer look this time, accompanied by a small grin. “It’s gonna be okay, Talli. We’ll sort you out and get you home.”

I grinned back at him. “Thanks Ni—Officer Grayson.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Make yourself at home,” Dick said, dropping the pizza on the counter in the kitchen to fish out some plates. “You can shower and borrow some of my pajamas if you want. I know I have some extra toothbrushes still in the packaging somewhere. And, please, by all means take the bed. I’m gonna be on patrol almost all night and by the time I get back I’ll collapse on the couch for a couple hours before I take you to Gotham.”

“No, I… I couldn’t,” I said.

“Please, I insist. I rarely make it to the bed so it could use some good use.” He handed me a plate. He’d changed out of his uniform at the precinct in the locker room and he looked even more attractive in civvies.

“Well… okay. But I don’t want to intrude—”

“Nonsense,” he interrupted. “You’d be doing me a favor.”

I snorted. “Okay that was smooth,” I said.

He shrugged and beamed. “What can I say? I'm a natural.”

I rolled my eyes and picked up a slice of pizza and dropped it on my plate. “Not to change the subject, but how old are you right now? Ages in the comics are a little… fuzzy. At best.”

“Twenty-two.”

“Hey, same,” I said.

“Jason and Cassandra are twenty. Tim is eighteen. Duke is sixteen. Damian’s thirteen.”

“Okay cool.”

“Bruce is thirty-seven.”

I froze in my movement to put a bite of pizza in my mouth and instead stared at him with my mouth open. “That seems… young,” I said.

Dick chuckled. “Yeah I guess so,” he agreed. “But that’s what happens when a twenty-four-year-old adopts a nine-year-old.” He shrugged. “So. Not to change the subject, but do you have _any_ idea how you got here?”

I dug the D20 out of my purse. “Not really. I was in a games and comics shop with my best friend in Colorado in my universe and I was test rolling this one a couple times. When I decided it wasn’t loaded and I wanted to get it, I stood up, got dizzy, closed my eyes, heard my best friend ask if I was okay and right after I answered she shouted my name and when I opened my eyes, I was in some half-lit establishment that was _not_ my comics and games shop in Colorado. When I went out on the street, I was here. And, well, you know the rest."

Dick plucked the D20 from my palm and examined it. “It’s a plastic die.”

“I'm aware,” I said. “But I thought it was aesthetically pleasing and in the light from the shop it practically glowed.”

Dick narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at that but didn’t seem to know what to do with it. “You said you rolled it a couple times. Do you remember the numbers?” he asked.

I scratched the back of my head. “Nineteen… eight… thirteen… two… and… ten?”

“That adds up to fifty-two. Nothing significant.”

I almost dropped my plate. “But The New Fifty-Two was a spin-off-slash-rebooted continuity for DC Comics back in twenty-eleven. It ran till like twenty-sixteen. Some of it was trash, I will say, but the number _is_ significant.”

“Hmm. So what’s the number for your world? What would you have to roll to get home?”

“There _is_ no _number_ for my world. As far as my perceptions go, my world is _reality_ and yours is _fictional_. The real world doesn’t have a number. I don’t know if there’s any number I _can_ roll to get home.”

“Hrn. Then tomorrow Batman will have to find another way to get you home,” Dick said.

“Great,” I said.

He glanced out the window. The light of the setting sun cast a warm goldenrod glow to his skin and made his eyes shine. They were one of those shades of absolutely gorgeous blue that made everyone else jealous no matter what their own eye color was. It was totally not fair. Why was he so dang _pretty_?

“It’s gonna get dark soon. Let’s get you settled in before I head out on patrol.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

I decided to stay out of his bedroom while he was in it, instead electing to just lean against the doorframe to be respectful. He threw a pair of basketball shorts and an old, soft gray T-shirt at me. “There’s some pajamas,” he said.

“Thank you,” I replied.

He left the bedroom into the bathroom next-door and opened the cupboard. “There it is! Knew I had extras.” He pulled out a toothbrush wrapped in plastic and threw it at me. I was still situating the pajamas in my arms so it bounced off my chest.

“Ow,” I deadpanned even though it didn’t really hurt.

“Whoops. Sorry. Forget sometimes that not everyone is a trained vigilante with wicked-fast reflexes.”

“It’s fine. Didn’t hurt.”

He gave me a crooked grin with the left corner of his mouth. “Sorry. Uh, feel free to shower, once I'm gone. There’re extra towels under the sink. If you need a hairbrush I _think_ there’s one in the drawer.”

“Well if there’s not I can survive without it,” I said.

“Okay. And if I'm still out or asleep when you wake up, help yourself to breakfast.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

He smiled and nodded. “No problem. I'm going to head out now. I’ll see you in the morning. If you need me, there’s a panic button under… c’mere. I’ll show you.” He beckoned me into his room and pushed the bedside table to the right of his bed away to reveal a button on the wall. “This’ll go straight to my gauntlet. It’s got a speaker and a microphone and it’ll let you talk to me.”

“Or you could just… I dunno… gimme your number,” I said. “My phone still _works_ here, I just can’t text across dimensional barriers.” I handed him my unlocked phone. He chuckled.

“That works too.” He plugged his number in and then grinned. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you in the morning. Be careful out there.”

He snickered. “Hey. It’s _me_,” he joked before going over to the balcony. He gave me a playful wink before vaulting over the side of it.

In his civvies.

I snorted once he was gone and moved to get ready for bed. It wasn’t particularly late, so I put the leftover pizza in bags and put them in the fridge to kill a little time before showering. He did in fact have a hairbrush in the drawer so I brushed out my hair and braided it. I brushed my teeth before awkwardly rocking on my toes and heels next to his bed. It just seemed… wrong.

_I insist_, he’d said.

“Welp. If you insist,” I muttered, flinging the covers back and sliding in.

^^^^^

“Hey Batman, it’s Nightwing,” Dick said as he swung between buildings. “There’s something I gotta talk to you about. Like. Now.”

“What is it, Nightwing?” Bruce’s voice asked.

“I was out driving around for work and I saw this frantic girl looking around like something was _extremely_ wrong. She looked terrified and panicked. So, of course, I stopped and went to help her. Turns out she’s from an alternate dimension where our world is fictional and we’re all comic book characters. Like, she knows everything about us. She has no idea how she got here and, frankly, I have no idea how to help her. I'm going to bring her to the Batcave tomorrow so maybe you or Tim or someone can… figure out how to send her home.”

“Hrn,” Bruce grunted. “Alright.”

“Cool thanks. See you tomorrow.”

“Mm.”

Batman hung up.

Dick sighed. “Well… coulda been worse,” he muttered.

^^^^^

_Talli… Talli…! TALLI!_

I woke up with a start and gasped, eyes snapping open.

I was not in my bedroom. Where was I? What was happening? Where was that voice coming from?!

The panic subsided slightly when I remembered where I was—and then came back full force because _shoot_ it wasn’t just a dream.

I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. Three in the morning. “Great,” I muttered.

I slid out of the bed and tiptoed through the rest of the apartment, just checking to make sure no one was intruding to wake me up. Not that anyone else in this universe even knew my name. While at the precinct Dick had done a search of birth records and couldn’t find a Tallianna Houston, either in Colorado or anywhere else in the country, whose name was spelled like mine or looked like me. I didn’t have a doppelgänger in the DC universe.

Nothing. The apartment was empty.

I got back in bed and tried to get back to sleep. The voice sounded like Monty’s when she shouted in the comic shop right before I turned up in Blüdhaven. I wondered what was happening back home. Was this like a Chronicles of Narnia situation where time back home froze until I got back? Or was time still running back home? Was Monty as panicked and scared as I was? What about my parents? My friends? We were supposed to go to my house and have pizza and play DnD. And I just… _vanished_. And what if time _had_ frozen? Would I just go back home, back to the comics store, like nothing ever happened? More experienced and older, shoved back into my younger body?

Monty’s shout sounded like she was watching me disappear—confused and freaked out. If time froze, what would that be like for her? Would I blink out of existence and then reappear a moment later with months or even years in my eyes? If time didn’t freeze… no one would ever believe Monty that I just disappeared like a bad movie fade-out or whatever.

“Come on, Talli. Lighten up,” I muttered. “Go back to sleep. You’re not helping yourself.”

I really wasn’t.

Taking a deep breath, I turned my mind to more pleasant thoughts until I finally got back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just kind of made up the characters ages based on whatever I wanted XD (DC does it all the time and I swear one of the comic writers has said before that their ages don't really matter so... yeah I just took a page from their book and decided on ages based on a whim and a tiny application of logic and math)(also in the comics it seems like Tim is always, without fail, 17. So I broke that. Damian's still 13 though)


	3. Chapter 3

“I'm sure you know what Bruce is like,” Dick said as we drove to Gotham. “Since you’ve read the comics. But, uh, just, uh… brace yourself? I guess? He can be a little… blunt.”

I grinned. “Oh I know. Batman’s one of the best-known comic book characters of… all time, really. Easily among the top three most recognizable along with Superman and Spider-Man, probably. I know exactly what he’s like.”

“Nightwing isn’t in the top three?” He sounded disappointed, but like he was faking it to be funny.

I snorted. “Well, not _Nightwing_, per se. But everyone knows Batman and Robin are the dynamic duo. Robin was the first kid sidekick ever—I think. At the very least the best-known. And usually the Robin everyone knows is you. The boy from the circus. Sometimes they’re more familiar with Tim. Depends on the person. Most people who don’t read comics don’t even know there’s been more than one Robin.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Up until I was… fifteen? Sixteen? I hadn’t read comics much and I didn’t know either. And then I learned. Fast. It was cool. A lot to learn, but cool.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

“Yeah.”

We kept driving. I wanted to watch the unfamiliar landscape, but I also couldn’t help but stare at him. Why did he have to be so _pretty_?! How was that in any way fair? Like, I considered myself a fairly pretty girl, but he was definitely prettier than me. Rude.

I tore my eyes away to watch Blüdhaven pass by on the way to Gotham.

“Radio? Do you mind? You’re the DJ,” Dick said.

I fiddled with his radio. “Don’t mind at all,” I said.

The drive to Gotham took about a half-hour. We drove through the woods toward Wayne Manor. Dick pulled off on a road I otherwise wouldn’t have noticed that wound through the trees and then a waterfall parted to let us in.

“Whoa,” I said.

Dick chuckled as we drove into the Batcave. I jumped out of the car before Dick could even think of getting my door for me and looked around in awe.

“Wow!” I breathed. He laughed and got out too.

“You must be the girl in the wrong dimension,” a voice said. I whirled. Bruce Wayne stood there in his bat-suit, but without the cowl on.

“That’s me, Mr. Wayne,” I said, sticking my hand out. “I'm Talli.”

“Hello Talli,” he greeted. “Shall we see about getting you home?”

“I’d greatly appreciate that,” I said.

“Alright then. To work.” He whipped around with a _whoosh_ of his cape and led me deeper into the cave.

I blinked. “Not one to dilly-dally, eh?” I said to Dick over my shoulder. He grinned and shrugged.

“Not really,” he said.

“Hrn,” Bruce Wayne grunted. I couldn’t help but snicker behind my hand while still looking around the Batcave like someone gave me free reign of Disneyland. I was in the _Batcave_ with _Bruce Wayne_ and _Dick Grayson_. Even though I was scared and _really_ wanted to go home because I didn’t know how any of this was happening, I couldn’t help but be excited. Monty was never going to believe me. _No one_ was ever going to believe me.

I wondered… if I took a picture on my phone… if it would stay when I jumped between dimensions.

Only one way to find out.

I pulled my phone out of my purse and took a selfie with the Batmobile while Dick tried hard to repress giggles. I took a selfie with him. “To prove to my best friend this really happened,” I explained. He nodded.

“If you’re finished,” Bruce said.

I clapped my fingers over my lips, which I’d shaped into a small O. “Oops. I'm in trouble,” I whispered to Dick before rushing after Bruce.

“First thing to do is test your vibrational frequency,” Bruce said, standing next to a lot of expensive-looking and fancy equipment. “Once we determine that, we’ll have a better understanding of which dimension you’re from. Then we can call Vibe and the Flash and see if they can get you home.”

“Okay,” I said.

Bruce pointed and grunted at a chair. I sat down on it.

He started tests. One of the instruments appeared to be a tuning fork. The other looked like a blood pressure cuff. EEG patches were stuck to my forehead. Dick was snickering from off to the side, leaned against a table with his hand over his mouth.

“What, do I look _that_ ridiculous?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Dick,” Bruce chided.

Dick pressed his lips into a thin line and smiled at Bruce. “Yes?”

Bruce didn’t say anything, just kept at his scientific study.

“Do you think she’s from Earth-Prime? Where Superboy-Prime was from?” Dick asked.

“Possibly,” Batman said.

“Can’t be. That’s in the comics too and people don’t exist on my world with power like that,” I said. “Superboy-Prime punching his way into the main reality brought Jason back to life.”

Batman gave me a small glare, putting the tuning fork on my forehead between EEG patches.

After a moment, he scrunched his eyebrows. “No… that can’t be right,” he muttered. Dick and I glanced at each other in confusion over Bruce’s shoulder. He ran the tests again, prodding a little deeper. I hissed in discomfort as it hurt a little but didn’t protest. Batman crossed his arms, staring at a readout that didn’t make any sense to me. “This isn’t right.”

“What’s up?” Dick asked.

“Dick. Come here. Let me do the same to you. Compare,” Bruce said. It sounded more like an order than a request.

Dick obeyed, almost automatically. He came over and took all the equipment off me and put it on himself. I vacated the chair and let Batman do the same tests on Dick while I stood just off to the side, watching.

When he turned back to the readout, Batman looked rather disgruntled. “Hrn,” he grunted.

“B what’s going on? What’s wrong?” Dick asked.

Batman looked at me. His eyes were a sharp blue-gray that bored right into my soul in a more calculating way than Dick’s pierced it. “You vibrate at the same frequency as those in our dimension.”

Dick leaned back. “What? That’s impossible.”

“It should be, theoretically, yes,” Bruce agreed. “Yet, it’s true. Look.” He gestured at the monitor. “The results for both of your frequencies were within range of belonging to _this_ dimension.”

“So what you’re saying is we can’t get her home since we don’t know which home to take her to.”

“No. I'm saying that getting her home only gets more difficult from here. But also, yes. For the immediate moment, we cannot just call Flash to the cave and have him run her home through one of Vibe’s breaches. The simplest solution is rendered moot,” Bruce said. I bit at a hangnail on my thumb and peeled it off.

“Okay. So what do we do?” I asked.

“Figure something else out. It won’t be so quick,” Bruce said. “You’re going to have to stay in this dimension for a while longer.”

“How much longer?” I asked curiously, trying not to sound freaked out. Even though I was.

“I don’t know,” Bruce admitted begrudgingly. “I need time to figure out what to do. Until such time as I do, you need to stay here.”

“Define ‘here,’” I said. “Like _this dimension_ ‘here’ or _this cold cave_ ‘here’?”

“Both. You’re a security risk with all you know. I can’t have you gallivanting the streets on your own.”

“Uh, objection!” Dick said, raising a hand and taking off all the vibrational frequency sensing equipment. “She’s a trustworthy adult who’s aware of how dangerous her knowledge is. She’s not gonna tell anyone anything about any of us. Right Talli?”

“Uh, right,” I said.

“Let her stay with me in Blüdhaven. I’ll keep an eye on her. It’s near enough to Gotham that it’s not inconvenient for either you or me to bring her here. But she also gets a degree of freedom and independence. Keeping her prisoner down here would be miserable for her and you _know_ you’d start thinking that she’s getting in the way.”

“Thanks,” I muttered bitterly. Bruce and Dick didn’t appear to hear me. Which was fine.

Dick held his hand out to Bruce. “Trust me,” he said.

Bruce glanced between his eldest son and me. “Fine,” he said, shaking Dick’s hand. “But you have to make sure she doesn’t spill anything.”

“She won’t,” Dick promised.

“I won’t,” I said.

Bruce huffed quietly out his nose. “Then she stays with you,” he said to Dick.

Dick beamed. “Fantastic! It’ll be great!”

Bruce sighed. “Head back to Blüdhaven. When I come up with more tests and more ideas I’ll let you know.”

“Sure thing!” Dick grabbed my hand and pulled me back to his car. “See ya B!”

“Goodbye Dick,” Bruce said quietly.

We got in the car and pulled out of the Batcave.

“Why’d you insist I stay with you?” I asked.

“Because staying down in that drafty cave would be miserable and you and I are the same age so, hopefully, we’ll get along better. Even if he put together a room for you in the Manor, you’d still be living with just him, Alfred, and Damian. Which sounds… like a recipe for utter boredom and exasperation with how many spats they get into. And he’d probably have you be down in the cave all the time anyway just in case of visitors.”

“… Right.”

“Trust me, it seemed like the best solution.”

“I'm not arguing with you on that point. I was just curious.”

He smiled as we reached the main road. “So, how about we go get you some clothes?”

“That would, uh, that’d be great, actually,” I said.

Dick laughed. “What a fun day we have ahead of us!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dick has many reasons to keep Talli around, not the least of which being sparing her from being trapped in the Batcave ;-) Happy reading friends!
> 
> (There are elements of Arrowverse present in this story because I was a super dedicated Arrowverse watcher back in high school and early college and still remember how the rules of the universe work a little. Some of it's made up though XD)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (singing) If you're bored of quarantine, clap your hands! *clap clap*
> 
> Yes, I'm reappearing from the void to post another chapter XD Enjoy!

“Maybe she’s originally from our dimension and somehow got transported to the one where we’re all fictional characters when she was a baby and doesn’t remember it,” Jason suggested on the phone while Dick patrolled.

“Mmm… maybe,” Dick said. “Probably not. But maybe.”

“It would explain why she vibrates at our frequency.”

“S’pose.”

“So? Do you have a picture of her? Clearly you must like her and think she’s cute if you insisted she stay with you.”

“Pfft. Jason. Please,” Dick said. “I insisted that for her own sake. She’d hate living in the Batcave.”

“Uh-huh. Sure,” Jason remarked sarcastically. “Whatever you say.”

“Hood,” Dick complained.

“I'm just saying, big bird, that you have a girl living with you right now who is your age, knows everything about you, and kinda trapped in our dimension until further notice,” Jason teased. There was a smile in his voice. “That sounds like, really, too good an opportunity to pass up on. Especially if she’s your type.”

Dick sighed dramatically. “I’ll call you later. I just saw something I need to go handle.”

“Okay Nightwing. Talk later. Send me a picture of her when you can though.” Jason laughed as the line went dead.

Dick rolled his eyes. Sure, Talli was cute and sweet and funny but there was no use getting too attached if she was just going to go back to her home dimension soon. They could be friends, but he didn’t see anything else happening between them.

^^^^^

“Wanna go get some breakfast? There’s a nice café down the road a ways,” Dick said. I stared for a moment. “Talli?”

“Sorry. Just not used to, like, city living. I grew up in a suburb. We didn’t really _have_ cafés. Uh… sure?”

“Cool. Let’s go.” He grabbed my wrist gently and moved to drag me off.

“Wait I'm not dressed!” I protested. He let me go.

“Well hurry up then!” he joked.

I picked some of the clothes we bought the day before, ducked into the bathroom, changed, brushed my hair and teeth, and went out. “Okay,” I said, grabbing my purse. “Now we can go.”

Since it was still a nice day, all things considered even if it was overcast and a tad cold, we decided to walk. Dick offered me his arm. I took it since the sidewalk was crowded and I didn’t want to get lost. I didn’t know _anything_ about Blüdhaven’s geography.

“How’d you sleep?”

“Great. But really, I’m fine on the couch—”

“Nope. No protesting. If you slept on the couch I’d get home from patrol and flop down right on top of you because I'm used to collapsing right there.”

I chuckled. “Okaaay. I just feel like—”

“It’s fine. Really. Everything about this arrangement is fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Thanks.”

“So! Wanna tell me more about this comic book universe you know so much about?”

“No,” I said. “Spoilers.”

“Like what?”

“Jason’s redesign. Your most recent terrible injury where the writers decided to throw out all of your best character traits. I don’t know which continuity we’re standing in right now. Maybe everything from every continuity has happened here at one point or another and I don’t want to risk that.”

“Hm. Interesting. What’s something from an old continuity? Like, a _really_ old continuity?”

“Barbara broke your heart after she cheated on you with Bruce.”

“Whaaat the he—that did _not_ happen in this timeline!”

“Oh good,” I said. “I always thought that was a strange story choice anyway. You’d think with Bruce being a grouch and you being happy and fun that it’d be the other way around. I never understood that one.”

We reached the café. “Pick whatever you want. My treat.”

“You’re treating me way too much,” I said.

He shrugged. “You’re a guest in this universe. Might as well.” He smiled at me.

“Dick.”

“Nope. No protesting.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”

Once we ordered and found a place to sit down, I started fiddling anxiously with the ring I wore on my right hand.

“Dick?”

“Mm?” he wondered, barely glancing up from his phone where he was checking stuff for work.

“Why… why are you doing this? Being so nice to me? Beyond asking Batman for help getting me home since I don’t belong… your obligation ends. You have no reason to let me stay with you. No reason to do any of this. I'm nothing more than a burden. And don’t pull that ‘it’s the right thing to do’ nonsense.”

He set his phone down. “Talli.” He looked me directly in the eyes. “_Talli._ I'm not just going to throw you out on the streets! You are _not_ a burden. To be frank, I’m grateful for the company. Especially company who knows more about me than I do. I’ve lived alone for a long time. Nothin’ wrong with that but we all go crazy with no one to talk to. And I can talk to you about _everything_.”

“You’re letting me live with you until Bruce figures out how to get me home because I'm the security risk who knows too much,” I said.

“_No_.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s all you took from that? Wow. No.”

I sighed. “No. I heard the rest. I just… I can’t put together why you’d go so out of your way for a stranger you met on the street who’s not even from this _universe_.” I dropped my voice for the last couple words. Not that anyone seemed to notice in the crowded café anyway.

Dick shrugged. “Because you’re nice and scared and I'm the type to offer help if I can. Because I find you endearing and I think we’ll be good friends,” he said. “Speaking of, if any of my neighbors or coworkers ask: just _say_ you’re my girlfriend.”

“Not roommate?”

“No. Who else would I live in a _one-bedroom_ apartment with?”

“Fair enough,” I said.

“Richard? Tally?” the barista called.

Dick held his hand out in a halting gesture. “I got it,” he said, sliding out of the booth to go grab our drinks. I picked at my fingernails and waited anxiously. It wasn’t like I was going to run into anybody I _knew_ in a _fictional_ city. I didn’t have to worry about anyone recognizing me. So why was I so anxious?

_Gee, Talli, maybe it’s your chronic anxiety_, I thought sarcastically.

True. But maybe it was the worry about getting home, the concern about what was happening at home, and the nerves that came with being in a fictional city intentionally riddled with crime.

Dick plopped down across from me and pushed my cup across the table. “One hot chocolate for the extradimensional guest,” he said.

“Not so _loud_!” I hissed.

He glanced around and shrugged. “No one noticed.” He turned back and lifted his cup. “Hey. Do you work in a coffee shop? Because I like you a _latte!_”

I groaned while he started laughing.

“Get it?” he asked.

“Got it,” I replied, pinching the bridge of my nose. “That was… truly one of the cheesiest pickup lines I’ve ever heard. And I’ve heard ones from ninth graders doing an English assignment on pickup lines. _That_ was a weird week at school.”

Dick kept laughing. “Oh yeah? Like what?” he challenged.

“A boy in my band class—and my English class—said, ‘The sky was so beautiful today. It reminded me of you,’ in the middle of band class. He sat behind me,” I said. “Another boy said to one of my friends at lunch time, ‘Hello. I'm a thief. I'm here to steal your heart.’ Monty—my best friend—nearly punched a pompous idiot in the face for saying… oh shoot what was it? Hang on. Let me try and remember. Did I even hear the end of it? I was laughing my head off… Oh yeah! ‘Have you been to the doctor’s lately? Because I think you’re lacking some vitamin _me_.’”

Dick laughed. “You seriously had a pickup line assignment in English?”

“Yup. We were freshmen. It was weird. I don’t even remember what the assignment _was_. Like whether it was a paper or what. I just remember everyone suddenly had an _arsenal_ of terrible pickup lines for… ages afterward.”

“That sounds like so much fun! What kind of school did you go to?”

“Public school,” I said.

“Gee. Some of those freshmen sound like they have better pickup line game than me. Guess I should look some up.”

“You definitely shouldn’t if you’re considering practicing them on me.”

He gave me an entreating look. “Pleeease? Just for breakfast. I just wanna see your reactions.”

I sighed. “Fine.”

He picked up his phone and typed at it for a second. “Ooh. Okay. How about this one?” he asked. “Do you have a sunburn or are you always this hot?”

I snorted. “Wow that one’s bad,” I said.

“If you were a fruit, you’d be a fine-apple.”

“Ouch. They’re cute but so cheesy.”

“If beauty were time, you’d be eternity.”

That one actually made me blush. I hid my giggling behind my hand a little and tried to hide my smile behind my cup of hot chocolate. “That one’s… actually really cute,” I admitted.

Dick did a little fist-pump. “Yes! One score!” he said.

“Hey Grayson! Fancy seeing you here!” said a new voice as someone approached our table. I glanced up to see a man in his… oh… probably mid-thirties, with a cup of coffee, probably. The barista’s messy handwriting had _Reed_ scrawled on the side. The man glanced at me. “Oh. Who’s this?”

“This is my girlfriend, Talli. Tal, this is Officer Reed Daniels. Coworker.”

I held out my hand. “Pleasure to meet you,” I said with an awkward grin. “Talli.”

He shook it. “Reed. Likewise,” he said. He turned to Dick. “Didn’t know you were dating anyone, Grayson.”

Dick shrugged and leaned back in the booth, setting his phone face down on the table. “Well. I try to keep my work and private lives separate,” he said.

“Mm. Good man,” Reed remarked. “See ya tomorrow at work, yeah?”

“Yeah. See ya. Say hi to the kids for me.”

“Will do. Good luck you two with your relationship!”

“Thanks!” Dick and I said at the same time as Reed left.

“He’s been married for ten years, has two kids, and is still the creepiest guy on the force,” Dick said quietly after the door to the café shut and Reed went walking down the sidewalk. “I swear he’s hit on every female officer who’s ever set foot in the BPD precinct. Married or not.”

“How come he didn’t hit on me?”

“I'm sitting right here. He usually flirts when the lady’s significant other isn’t _around_. Do yourself a favor and never be alone with him.”

“Noted,” I said. “Of course, that implies that I'm going to see him again.”

“Well. You never know,” Dick said. “Like, if, for any reason, you ever have to come visit me at the precinct. Speaking of visiting. If you’re staying with me, you’ll need this.” He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out something, holding it out to me. “Spare key to the apartment. So when I'm at work or on patrol, you can come and go as you please.”

“Thank you,” I said. I accepted the key and pulled my keychain out of my purse. It had my car key, my house key, a tiny Captain America shield, a whistle, and a lanyard for my university. I slipped the key onto the ring.

We finished breakfast at the café and went back out onto the streets.

“So. Where now on this lovely Sunday morning?” I asked.

“I'm going to show you my lair,” Dick said playfully. He leaned down. “My Nightwing HQ,” he whispered, so close to my ear his lips brushed my hair.

“Ooh!” I said brightly.

“Shall we?” he asked, offering me his elbow again.

“Absolutely.” I looped my arm through his and took a sip of my cup. “Lead the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The English assignment on pickup lines as a freshman is actually lifted straight out of my actual life. Still can't remember the reason for that assignment... anyway, hope everyone's dealing with this virus safely and responsibly. I wish you all the best!


End file.
